Guitar Chords Crash Course

Contents

Description

Guitar Chords Crash Course will try to teach or help you remember some guitar chords. The main goal with G3C is to make a simple program that anyone can use yet powerful for more advanced users.

Features

Displays chords and scales from chordfiles. Over 1000 chords, 48 scales and 13 tunings are included.

Editable chordfiles. You can change chords that are wrong and you can make your own chordfile with your favorite chords.

Built-in chord editor complete with import function.

Playing chords. G3C is able to play all chords it can display.

Left-handed option and the ability to turn the fretboard upside down.

Guitar tuner and editable tunings. You can make your own favorite guitar tuning and have G3C play the chords in that tuning.

Tab search. G3C will find a tab for you if you don't know the name.

Print support. You can print the whole chordfile in a list or make a list of chords and print them graphically.

Drum Machine. It's more fun to play with drums in the background. Create and edit your own drumpatterns.

G3C is free (nagware), which means that it's a full working download version without any strings attached.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does GCCC and G3C mean?

These are shorts of Guitar Chords Crash Course.

What is G3C?

G3C is a C++ MFC project I started a couple of years ago. I play the guitar and I'm learning how to develop software so this became my learning project.

Is G3C free?

Yes, you don't have to register G3C if you don't want to. You may use G3C as much as you want without registering, but if you like it and use it a lot then check the next question.

Are there any disabled features in G3C if I don't register?

No, there are NO disabled or hidden features and there is NO time limit. Registering enables you to remove the annoying popup messages and the PayPal buttons. You also show your support by donating, and that is greatly appreciated.

I have registered and received my personal code... Now what do I do with it?

First make sure G3C is installed on your computer, then start the program. Click the "About" button and you should see a button labeled "Click to enter RegCode". Click that button and enter your name and the registration code exactly as it says in the eMail you got. If you entered the name and the code correctly G3C should thank you and say that you need to restart G3C for the settings to take effect. Exit G3C and start it again. Now there should't be any more pop-ups or "Register" buttons.

How do I ...insert your query here...?

I know, there isn't a lot of documentation for G3C... Check the version history, maybe the answer to your question can be found there. You can always try sending your question to: support@bincsoft.com

I found a bug in G3C, can I notify you about it?

Of course! First check the bug list on the official G3C website and if it's not in the list send an eMail to: support@bincsoft.com describing the bug. Also include the version number you are running.

I have a suggestion for you...

Great! Send a note about it to: support@bincsoft.com.

I can't get any sound in G3C...

First try changing the output device in G3C. If that doesn't work you should try playing a MIDI file. Run a search for "*.mid" on your computer. If you can't hear anything then check the MIDI volume. If you have a soundcard that requires soundfonts like the Creative Soundblaster Live! then you need to load a soundfont. Check the documentation for your soundcard.

When I play a chord I get a weird noise...

Some soundcards have crappy drivers... The Soundblaster Live! is known to be a bit strange. Try updating your soundcard drivers to the latest version.

Is there a way of turning the chords or drum tracks into wave files?

G3C does not support this. You can however use any wave-recording software to record the chords or drum tracks. If you are using Windows XP you can use the built-in Sound Recorder which is available at: Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment.

I just made a chord file or tunings file which I think is better than the ones included in G3C...

If you like sharing it then send it to: support@bincsoft.com and I'll put it on the official G3C website.

I'm a software developer and I'm interested in the source code for G3C, can I have it?

For the moment, G3C isn't open source. Mainly because it's an ongoing project and there are still features I would like to add. I'm also not very good at writing understandable code...

Will there be a Linux port?

Maybe.

How much code is there in G3C?

Currently, there are more than 10,000 lines of code in G3C. This is however constantly changing whenever I find better ways of doing stuff...

Actually, I think G3C sucks!

Don't use it!

Known bugs in version 3.4

In certain cases when starting G3C and quickly switching to another application, the dots will look pretty strange.

Restart G3C and wait for it to load.

Printing did not work for some in version 3.2. Changed some code in v3.3, maybe it solved the problem, maybe it didn't...

None

Tooltips will sometimes disappear for some users.

None

If you have found a bug and it's not listed here, please send an e-mail to: support@bincsoft.com describing the problem. Also include the version of G3C, your operating system and other information (like model of printer if it's a printing problem) that might be related to the problem.

Version History

v3.4

New features

Added the playlist. You can create a list of up to 10 chords and play them in sequence. You can also print the playlist graphically.

Added the drum machine. You can play, edit and create drumpatterns. Please note that the drum machine will sometimes be a bit sluggish. There are just a few drumpatterns included but it's very easy to add your own.

G3C will now display which string is being played by changing the color of the dots to red.

G3C will now remember right-handed and upside down settings.

Other changes

Completely rewrote the way G3C plays chords.

Much more settings to play around with. You can now change chord decay, volume and channel.

Some other changes...

v3.3

New features

Support for scales.

Added the ability to edit scales and scale information. Always add scales in the A key. G3C will automatically convert the scale into the other keys. Double click a scale in the main program to display the information about the scale.

The main app will now display the notes for every fret as tooltips just like the editor did.

Added the ability to turn the fretboard upside down.

Moved the tunings to the chordfiles so you can have different tunings in different chordfiles. The tuner editor will edit the file that is currently open in the main program.

Added the ability to import tunings from either old style tunings.g3c file or ordinary chordfiles. Note: If you wish to import tunings from a tunings.g3c file you need to have the standard tuning at the top of the file. You can edit the tunings.g3c file with notepad and move the two lines to the top.

The "Register" and "Donate" buttons will now take you to a page where you can decide registration method and not directly to PayPal.

G3C will now display how many chords, scales and tunings (including empty ones) there are in the file. Press the chordfile information button... If you want an accurate count then open up the file in the editor and save it. G3C will then remove all the empty entries so you get an accurate reading.

G3C will now automatically sort the file when saving. This is because the program will remove all empty entries in the chordfile for better performance.

You can now change how fast G3C should play the chords.

Added the ability to change startup chordfile.

Added a new chordfile called "advanced.gtr" with a lot of chords, scales and tunings.

Fixed bugs

A problem where G3C "forgot" the chordfile when opening a non chordfile.

Fixed printing problem? I haven't got any feedback on the changes...

G3C will now only write settings file in program directory.

Only one instance of G3C is allowed to run.

Fixed G3C not displaying help file after opening a chordfile in another directory.

Fixed some errors that occurred when opening a corrupt chordfile.

Some other small fixes...

v3.2

Major code cleanup. This should mean that G3C is slightly faster.

The Tuner Editor now uses Instrument and Device settings selected in the Guitar Tuner.

G3C will now remember your Output Device and Instrument settings.

If G3C can't find the tunings file at startup it will try to write one with the Standard tuning instead of crashing like v3.1 did.

Clicking on the note that is currently playing in the tuner now stops the loop.

You can now change tuning in the Guitar Tuner "on the fly".

Fixed a crash that occurred when trying to add 100 tunings in the Tuner Editor.

Fixed the tunings... They where set one octave too low.

Sorting now works on the default chordfile and similar chordfiles. The problem was that the empty chords wasn't actually called "Empty", they didn't even exist. Sorting one of these files will now set all empty entries to "Empty".

Updated the Chord Editor with a nicer interface so it's more fun to play with. Try it out by starting the Editor, opening the default chordfile or any other chordfile and click away on the fretboard. Don't worry, you won't change anything in the chordfile until you click the save button...

The Chord Editor can now play the notes as if played on a Standard tuned guitar. It can also play back the whole chord. The Editor will use the Device and Instrument settings from the main program.

Double clicking a chord now plays it.

Added left-handed option.

Added import chords function in the Chord Editor. It can only import chords beginning with A, B, C, D, E, F or G. Chords beginning with any other character will be ignored.

v3.1

Updated GUI with nice icons.

Tabs are now written in bold text.

Added the sorting feature in the chord editor. It will not actually sort the chords, only put all the empty ones at the bottom.

Added more tunings in the guitar tuner and the ability to make your own tunings. You can also playback all chords using your own custom made tunings. The tuner editor will only play the notes using a piano and the default MIDI-out device.

Version 3.0 of G3C did not play the chords correctly, this should be fixed now.

Some other minor updates which I can't remember.

Added the ability to register G3C. Donate $5 or more and you shall receive a registration code that will remove all PayPal buttons. Don't worry, G3C is still completely free to use. There are NO limitations, NO locked features and NO time limit. This is just something extra for people who actually register.

v3.0

Rewrote chord display engine to support 12 frets.

Changed GUI (Graphical User Interface) to be able to display 12 frets.

Added the chordfile information button.

Rewrote the guitar tuner. You can now use it to tune your guitar up or down one half, or one whole step.

Added the ability to loop notes in the guitar tuner. You can also select how long you want the notes to sound.

Fixed the chord editor to support 12 frets.

Added a new HUGE chordfile that I found on the net. The old chordfiles are also available, just press the open button and select the chordfile you want.

Added support for 200 chords per chord button.

Fixed a printing bug that made G3C print empty chords. Now G3C will only print chords you can see in the main program.

Added the search feature. This feature will find a tab for you or check if a tab has multiple names. You can use the "copy" button to quickly copy the currently displayed chord down to the search box.

Fixed lots of stuff in the chord editor and made it easier to work with.

Added the "Play Chord" feature. You can now hear what the chords should sound like... Well, almost.

v2.1

Added support for Windows XP. You can probably run the old versions on WinXP but it looks cool in this version history.

Removed the need for a edit.gtr file.

Removed the initial dropdown menus.

When I messed around with the chord editor I made a new small chordfile with the most common chords. There might be fewer errors in this chordfile than the default one just because there are less chords... Anyway, just press the open button and load the file called new.gtr.

Added printing support. You can now print your custom made chordfiles.